the characters

So that we can all be on the same page, here's what's been decided already for the characters we're working with. These things have been decided either based on the histories of the characters as they were in the plays; through discoveries made in skype chats; or as discussed between Janis and Scott while brainstorming ideas for the most active play. If you have additions, please post them. If you have debates about what's been decided, post those too. Nothing is set in stone yet. This is just a sketchpad to draw on.

Please help me think up more links between the various characters! Or keep it in mind when you're chatting...


Also, just a reminder that the given circumstance are what would occur shortly after the meteor shower in Stars and about 6 months after the rainy Friday night in Rain EXCEPT that we'll go with the Stars idea that Elliot never met Poet and therefore is dead. Scott and I think this will give us the most to play with (backhistory for Sam, ecterra) although I don't want this knew play to be about death. Reul, on the other hand, is still alive. Let's say she died in surgery, had that experience with Elliot in the stars, and then came back to. She's still in the hospital, but changed after she saw the white light...


6 months after RAIN would mean...


Poet (Meagan) -- is a junior. She's no longer the new girl, but does she still doesn't exactly fit in, mainly because she's always writing on her poetry blog. She began writing after she saw a boy dead in the park (rainboy). Her poems are abstract but many of them are about Elliot and how oddly connected to him she feels even though she never knew him. Her closest friend is Jessie, whom she's never met except for online.

Sam -- is in his first year of college in Texas, of all places. He and Noelle broke up before he left but decided to stay friends, although they don't talk that much. He's become a very different person since Elliot's death and now college. In fact, he seems like a different person with every new person he meets... He's been spending a lot of time in a virtual reality program (akin to 2nd life) living out fantasies.

Noelle -- is in her first year of college in New York! (yes, this is a change). Maybe she has a job in the library there like she dreamed of. She doesn't know what she's majoring in yet, although she's taking a lot of French classes, but that's mainly because of the French boy who has been tutoring her... Her roommate is Kaiya, a musical theatre major. Beth spends a lot of time in their dorm room too. There's a guy

Justin -- is in supposed to be in his first year of college in Chicago. He still lives at home and everyone thinks he's commuting downtown to classes everyday. Only Gretchen, his girlfriend of 6 months now, knows that really he has dropped out in order to spend time wandering through museums, reading in cafes, and picking dandelions for her...

Gretchen (Noelle's sister)-- is in her junior year of high school. She spends a lot of time with Justin. I'm not really sure what else is going on with her yet... Is she close friends with Lisa and Sophie and the gang again? Maybe there isn't even a gang anymore... I wonder what her interests are.... what she dreams about these days...

Lisa -- is in her junior year of high school. I have a feeling she's not quite as obsessed with boys or fashion anymore, but I'm not sure what replaced her old obsessions... maybe she has an actual boyfriend now? Maybe she joined a drama group and is intent on becoming a great actor... Maybe she started volunteering somewhere and is a lot less self-obsessed....

Jill -- is in her junior year. She still loves English and is probably taking honors classes or maybe even college classes. If that's the case, then I bet she has a crush on her professor... maybe that's her big secret now...

Sophie -- is in her junior year. She's still super cool though. I wonder what she's up to... wonder if she still has a thing for Justin or if she got over that when Gretchen and him hooked up. Maybe she's got a thing for a girl. Maybe she's gotten really into fashion and is making her own clothes. Maybe she went totally emo.

Casey -- is in her junior year. It's fall so that means she's probably on a sports team kicking everyone's butts. Soccer? Lacrosse? She's sworn to never play Have You Ever ever again in her life.

Maggie -- is in her junior year. She's still a lover, always smiling and making others smile. She's still drawing, although she probably keeps it on the dl most of the time. I have a feeling that even though everyone is into different things now, she still tries to keep the gang together and insists on monthly sleepovers, or something.

STARS

Sydney -- a 16 year old girl who wanted a telescope for her birthday but received a microscope from her inept father instead. She's from a well-developed English speaking country... possibly Denmark. At the end of the play a telescope literally fell out of the sky in front of her.
Wonder how that affected her belief in fate or higher powers, or whatever...

Acadia -- early 20s. Just arrived back in Edmonton after an awesome 6 months in Berlin. She's not thrilled to be home although meeting Daniyar on the flight has definitely made her rethink her situation a bit. She got really into photography while in Berlin.

Daniyar -- 17 years old. Just arrived in Edmonton where is going to be living with his Aunt because his father didn't think it was safe for him in Tehran any longer. His English is almost perfect but he is more afraid of assimilating into Western culture than not fitting in. He's happy to have met Acadia even though she fits his Western stereo-type almost to a tee.

Orion -- A celestial being. A dude who wears a long coat and a funny belt and has lots of insights for people who make the mistake of looking up at the stars instead of down and all around them. A weird, cool, and smart dude who's just a little out of this world.

Reul -- 17 years old, a New Yorker. She's just undergone her 13th brain surgery, and miraculously, survived although the doctors still aren't sure how to cure her. During her surgery, she had a really cool out of body experience in which she met a guy named Elliot in the night sky and they both became stars and hitched a ride on a plane to a meteor shower where they fell with all of the other stars. She was falling and falling forever and then she landed here, in her hospital bed. She spends a lot of time online, and lives the life she wishes she could in a virtual reality... the same one as Sam, I bet.

Beth -- 17 years old, New York. A good friend of Reul's. She spent the evening watching the meteor shower with Kaiya and thinking about Reul, wondering if she was going to make it. She also drank a bottle of champagne with Kaiya and got drunk for the first time. She's a great singer and used to be in choir with Kaiya and Reul. Now that Kaiya graduated and Reul's in the hospital, she's probably feeling pretty lonely. She spends a lot of time in Kaiya's dorm room.

Kaiya - 18, nyc. Spent the evening waiting for the meteor shower with Beth. Kaiya's a bit zanier than Beth, who tends to worry a lot, but she also has a better idea of what is really happening with Reul and isn't sure that she's going to get better. Kaiya's seen her fair share of death already and is trying reconcile it as just another part of life. She's also very excited to be a freshman in college (nyu?) studying musical theatre and she LOVES her roommate, Noelle.

Anthony -- early 20s. Used to live in Sydney but now lives in rural Australia with his mom, step-dad and step-sister, Jessie. He's a guitar player and song writer and wrote this song about the stars that has become pretty popular on the internet. He owes that song to Jessie for helping him to see life more positively, to see the connections between everyone and everything instead of just the spaces that separate them all. Anthony recently decided to hit the road with his guitar. He ends up in Texas for a festival and thinks it's such a crazy place he might as well stay. He finds an ad for a roommate wanted and follows it... it's Sam! (that's for you, Nathan)

Jessie -- 15. Her favorite thing to do is to sit on her rooftop and talk to the stars. She misses her mom who died several years ago. Recently, she and Anthony finally became more than just two people who live in a house together and that thrilled her because she thinks he's about the coolest dude ever. However, now that he's gone traveling the world, she's left trying to follow him on the internet. Searching for his lyrics on the web put her in touch with Poet, who is now her closest friend. They have a crazy time together online and she wishes she could get to Chicago to actually meet her friend.

Robin -- He's just a kid who wants to fly. He's Brittish and he's always finding things to climb and jump from. Intense. I don't think he has many friends... a little too obsessive...

Sam/justin/noelle.... refer to Rain, but feel free to add aspects to their characters that were developed in Stars.